This lesson should be broken down into at least a week worth of lessons (anywhere from 5-7 mini lessons depending on the skill level of the students)
Essential Question
How would you know if you were in a public or private place? How would you identify an activity as public or private? What does private look like? What does public look like?
Summary:
This lesson teaches key concepts for F.L.A.S.H. (Human growth and development curriculum approved by Garden City Public Schools) Many behaviors are considered to be inappropriate only when they occur in an inappropriate context. Doing the right thing at the wrong time or in the wrong place has gotten many young people into precarious situations.
The discrimination between public and private as two general concepts can be tricky, both to teach and to learn. It is therefore important to clearly define and be specific about places and behaviors that are private, places and behaviors that are considered public. Another subtle distinction to address is whether a place might be considered private to “do” or private to “talk”. For instance we might say to someone, “Come over here so we can discuss that privately”. However the place indicated might not be necessarily considered a “private” place for other behaviors, such as masturbation or certain grooming activities.
Since public and private is such a building block concept for the other work in F.L.A.S.H., be sure your students understand it thoroughly. Review the concepts often, and reinforce this learning through other school and non-school activities, using “Teachable Moments”, and asking, “Is this private?
Objectives
Students shouldbe able to...
1. Explain the difference between public and private in his/her own words
2. Correctly label pictures or descriptions of places as public or private
3. Correctly label described behavior as public or private and identify places
where the behavior might appropriately occur
4. Identify natural consequences of inappropriate behavior
Tasks:
Define Public & Private.
Begin by defining terms. Provide as many concrete examples of each definition as you can
think of. Some language that may be helpful is provided below:
• for the general concepts of public and private: “Public is different from private. Public is when
there are many (2 or more) people; private is when there is just one person.”
• for the discrimination between public and private places; “Public places are places where you are likely to see other people as well as yourself. Private places are places where you are usually alone.” It may also be helpful to specify private places as “in your bedroom (unless you share a room) or bathroom by yourself with the door closed.”
• for the discrimination between parts of the body that should be covered when in public or when in private:
“When we are in public places, we wear clothing that covers our bodies. Usually, most of our body is covered with clothing, but certain parts of the body are always kept covered in public places. These parts are the
breasts, pubic area and bottom on females, the penis, scrotum and bottom on males - the parts covered by our underwear. Sometimes in private places, like the bathroom, or when changing clothes, these parts of the body are not covered.”
• for the discrimination between private and public behaviors including language: “Public behaviors and language are used when you are with other people, in public. If you behave in public in an appropriate/OK way, people will not think you are strange, will not laugh at you. Other behaviors are considered to be private. Things like going to the bathroom, brushing your teeth, adjusting your underwear, burping, or picking your nose. If you do these private things in public places, people may think you are acting inappropriately, that it is not 0K and they may laugh at you or think you are strange.”
Personalization/Differentiation
Instead of having students brainstorm places, behaviors and types of clothing that are public or private, have them choose from two offered selections - perhaps in picture form - and either sort or label, the choices as
appropriate in public or private.
Real-World Connection
Special education students need to be taught what public versus private is. Many students have difficulty understanding there is a difference between activities allowed in a public realm, versus activities done privately. They also struggle knowing what body parts should be kept covered until they are in private. Without this knowledge our students have the potential for creating public embarrassment or harm to themselves from others not understanding their disability.
The audience for this lesson is self-contained (center based) adult (18-26 year old) students with autism. These students are also moderately to severely cognitively impaired.
We will involve the student's parents, our school nurse, and social worker as "trusted adults" who can also discuss these private matters with them.
Assessment:
Picture Sorting
A. Collect magazine pictures of places - both indoors and outdoors, both with people in them and without
people in them. A good source for room pictures is furniture store advertising.
B. Have students look at pictures and label them as public, private or sometimes public andsometimes private places. Pictures can either be: • sorted into piles, or • taped to two ends of the blackboard/wall with unclear pictures in the middle. This forms a continuum, and the reasons for posting the pictures in different places can be discussed.
For more impaired students: Place two symbol cards on the table (picture of public "multiple people" and private "person alone") and work with students to decide if pictures should go on top of the private card or on top of the public card. Discuss the reasons for the decisions with the students, remembering that students may understand more than they are able to express.
Put a Short Activity/Lesson/Project Title Here
The discrimination between public and private as two general concepts can be tricky, both to teach and to learn. It is therefore important to clearly define and be specific about places and behaviors that are private, places and behaviors that are considered public. Another subtle distinction to address is whether a place might be considered private to “do” or private to “talk”. For instance we might say to someone, “Come over here so we can discuss that privately”. However the place indicated might not be necessarily considered a “private” place for other behaviors, such as masturbation or certain grooming activities.
Since public and private is such a building block concept for the other work in F.L.A.S.H., be sure your students understand it thoroughly. Review the concepts often, and reinforce this learning through other school and non-school activities, using “Teachable Moments”, and asking, “Is this private?
1. Explain the difference between public and private in his/her own words
2. Correctly label pictures or descriptions of places as public or private
3. Correctly label described behavior as public or private and identify places
where the behavior might appropriately occur
4. Identify natural consequences of inappropriate behavior
Begin by defining terms. Provide as many concrete examples of each definition as you can
think of. Some language that may be helpful is provided below:
• for the general concepts of public and private: “Public is different from private. Public is when
there are many (2 or more) people; private is when there is just one person.”
• for the discrimination between public and private places; “Public places are places where you are likely to see other people as well as yourself. Private places are places where you are usually alone.” It may also be helpful to specify private places as “in your bedroom (unless you share a room) or bathroom by yourself with the door closed.”
• for the discrimination between parts of the body that should be covered when in public or when in private:
“When we are in public places, we wear clothing that covers our bodies. Usually, most of our body is covered with clothing, but certain parts of the body are always kept covered in public places. These parts are the
breasts, pubic area and bottom on females, the penis, scrotum and bottom on males - the parts covered by our underwear. Sometimes in private places, like the bathroom, or when changing clothes, these parts of the body are not covered.”
• for the discrimination between private and public behaviors including language: “Public behaviors and language are used when you are with other people, in public. If you behave in public in an appropriate/OK way, people will not think you are strange, will not laugh at you. Other behaviors are considered to be private. Things like going to the bathroom, brushing your teeth, adjusting your underwear, burping, or picking your nose. If you do these private things in public places, people may think you are acting inappropriately, that it is not 0K and they may laugh at you or think you are strange.”
appropriate in public or private.
The audience for this lesson is self-contained (center based) adult (18-26 year old) students with autism. These students are also moderately to severely cognitively impaired.
We will involve the student's parents, our school nurse, and social worker as "trusted adults" who can also discuss these private matters with them.
A. Collect magazine pictures of places - both indoors and outdoors, both with people in them and without
people in them. A good source for room pictures is furniture store advertising.
B. Have students look at pictures and label them as public, private or sometimes public andsometimes private places. Pictures can either be: • sorted into piles, or • taped to two ends of the blackboard/wall with unclear pictures in the middle. This forms a continuum, and the reasons for posting the pictures in different places can be discussed.
For more impaired students: Place two symbol cards on the table (picture of public "multiple people" and private "person alone") and work with students to decide if pictures should go on top of the private card or on top of the public card. Discuss the reasons for the decisions with the students, remembering that students may understand more than they are able to express.